I absolutely hate when people call top-200 players sleepers. In this day and age, it is hard to classify anyone as a sleeper, but if you do, you better be talking about guys going late. Therefore, I have decided to take on the role of sleeper whisperer at Fantasy Alarm. Each week, I will give you late round sleepers broken up by league sizes aimed at helping you address needs late in your drafts. No matter the depth of your league, it is important to review all of these names as they could become relevant for you at some point.

This week we talk about strikeouts. Now most people will get plenty of strikeouts at the top of their draft, but if you don’t, or end up waiting a long time to take another starter after taking a stud, you may find yourself scrambling to add some whiffs towards the end of your draft. Here are my picks for late-round strikeouts.

10-Team Mixed Options:

Dinelson Lamet (ADP: 207.14)- Lamet is a flamethrower with 95 mph fastball and a great slider. He can rack up the strikeouts as well as the walks, as he can struggle with his command quite frequently. He is likely destined for the bullpen long-term because he really is only a two-pitch guy and until that third pitch develops, he will have struggles. That being said, the Padres have no reason not to continue to start him and see if he can develop that third pitch, so for 2018, he has nice strikeout and overall upside.

Taijuan Walker (ADP: 208.97)- 2017 was a nice year for the former top prospect, but a closer look into his underlying stats show that he outpitched his perpierals. With the humidor coming to Arizona, he could repeat those surface number though. Unfortunately, he lacks a complete arsenal to take another step forward, but he still should register a 20+% strikeout rate once again.

Mike Clevinger (ADP: 209.62)- With Danny Salazar starting the year on the DL and Josh Tomlin being Josh Tomlin, Clevinger appears to have a rotation spot locked up. In his 121.2 Major League innings last season, he had a fantastic 27.3 K% that would have ranked tied for 11th in MLB along with Jimmy Nelson and Yu Darvish had he had enough innings to qualify. He needs to limit the walks a bit more, but this is a potential breakout player going outside the top-200.

Michael Wacha (ADP: 228.00)- Wacha is another pitch away from taking a big step forward and he is working on two this spring. He already gets some decent strikeout totals, but either of these two new ones can be swing-and-miss too meaning, we may finally see the breakout we have been waiting for.

Patrick Corbin (ADP: 233.30)- Corbin quietly had a very nice season last year. If the humidor in Arizona can help lower his home run rate from last year, we could see a another Corbin breakout. He had his best K/9 in the Major’s last year and went over 160 innings for the first time since having Tommy John Surgery. This could be a big year for Corbin.

12-Team Mixed Options:

J.A. Happ (ADP: 255.10)- Perpetually underrated, Happ had his best strikeout percentage in an injury-shortened year. As long as he is healthy, he can provide help in the strikeout and ERA categories. He is often forgotten about due to an unsexy profile, but he is fairly reliable.

Luiz Gohara (ADP: 278.19)- Chances are that Gohara starts the year in Triple-A, but with guys like Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy penciled into the rotation, he may not toil in the minors for long. He showed that he can get a ton off whiffs at the Major League level in his cup of coffee in the big leagues last year and it is just a matter of time before he is dominating hitters there again.

Marco Estrada (ADP: 308.95)- Estrada was awful last season and earned all of his almost 5.00 ERA. However, he reportedly struggled with off the field issues that have now been resolved. Estrada has always been good at getting IFFBs and limiting hard contact so there is no reason to think that can’t continue. He can provide quality strikeout numbers even if the ratios aren’t great, though they should be vastly improved from last year.

Jimmy Nelson (ADP: 314.25)- You have to be able to stash Nelson on the DL, as he likely will miss the first 6-8 weeks of the season, but last year’s breakout appears to be very legitimate. Reports state that he is ahead of schedule in his rehab and is healing nicely from the shoulder injury that ended his 2017 campaign. If you can stash him, you could get a nice boost to you pitching staff mid-season in leagues with a decent number of DL spots.

15-Team Mixed Options:

Dan Straily (ADP: 322.37)- Straily set career highs in innings pitched and K/9 in 2017 and will likely be heavily relied upon for the Marlins in 2018 as well. Wins may be difficult to come by in Miami since they are in full on dumpster fire mode. However, Straily can be an asset in strikeouts without hurting you in ERA.

German Marquez (ADP: 335.99)- People are so afraid of Coors Field that they let Rockies pitchers go by. Marquez struck out 21% of the batters he faced in his first full major league season and in spite of playing in Coors, he only had a 4.39 ERA or if you want to be more careful use him on the road where he sported a 4.19 ERA. Either way, Marquez has some interesting upside that is largely ignored because he pitches in Colorado.

Joe Musgrove (ADP: 344.39)- Being traded to Pittsburgh in the Gerrit Cole trade breathes new life into Musgrove’s fantasy value. No longer just a bullpen piece, some projections out there actually have Musgrove projected to outpitch Cole this season. The move to PNC Park should help him and he should be able to get around a 20% strikeout rate.

AL-Only Options:

Kyle Gibson (ADP: 450.72)- Gibson doesn’t seem like much of a strikeout pitcher, but he made some changes last season that helped. Altering his arm slot and his placement on the rubber helped him make big strides in the second half to the tune of over 8.0 K/9 and a 3.57 ERA. Gibson has looked good in spring training so far, so there is no reason to think he can’t carry those changes over to a new season. He is best served for AL-only, but I will be grabbing shares in mixed leagues as well.

Mike Fiers (ADP: 522.68)- Fiers may not always have great ratios, but he can definitely supply strikeouts. He has struck out at least 21% of the batters he has faced in three of the last four seasons. The move to Detroit should be beneficial from a park factors prospective as well. Fiers will likely go for no more than $3-4 in AL-only and is well worth the price.

NL-Only Options:  

Chris Stratton (ADP: 481.88)- In his short cup of coffee in the Giants rotation in 2017, Stratton had a 3.82 ERA and struck out about 20% of the batters he faced. He has an elite curve ball and is a pitch mix change away from taking a big step forward. With a new pitching coach and one of the best game callers in the game in Buster Posey, Stratton is my favorite deep sleeper pitcher this season.

Clayton Richard (ADP: 491.44)- Richard isn’t a strikeout pitcher, but he can get enough to help, because of the volume of pitches he throws. He threw 197 innings last year and appears to still be healthy entering this season. Richard gets some decent parks in the NL West including his home stadium of Petco Park. He is an NL-only guy for sure, but one that can provide meaningful innings and the strikeouts that come with them.